Bad Horse
by idioticonion
Summary: Bad Horse's secret


Bowie gave Bad Horse his best, wide-eyed stare and began to clap - slowly, sarcastically. The chestnut-coated beast let out a whinny and tossed its head.

"No, really. I suppose that was a good one." Bowie said with a shrug and picked a piece of lint off his blue jacket.

There was silence across the conference table with only the heavy, horsey breaths breaking it. All the other members of the League had left.

"Are you really going to stay like that all day?" Bowie asked, deliberately looking up at the ceiling and affecting a bored expression. "It hurts my head to look at you, mate."

There was a shimmer in the air and a hum of static, like a TV channel going out of faze, and the imposing equine image dissolved. What was left in his place was a girl.

"I've got to hand it to you," Bowie drawled. "Doctor Horrible's your best yet. Few bob short of a pound, mind. But he's got the fire in his belly now."

The girl nodded, taking in a deep breath and shaking out her red hair. She stood, massaging her temples and wincing.

"You look tired, sweetheart." Bowie told her. "You need to kick back and relax."

She nodded with an exhausted but fond smile. "Keeping up the illusion of being dead without your unique abilities there to help me? That was much harder than I thought."

He chuckled and preened slightly. "That's me. Always under appreciated. Tell that to the NME. Tough crowd."

She laughed and lowered herself into a chair, leaning back and closing her eyes. "Maintaining the image of those shards of metal through the stomach and all that blood - that was tough. At least I don't have to put up with that puppy dog expression of his any more," she said quietly.

Bowie laughed. "You can really pick 'em, you know that? Remember what Professor Normal was like two years ago?"

She smiled fondly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes until he pushed a glass of water across the table towards her. "Penny-" Bowie said.

She opened her eyes to look at him.

"You'd never do that to me?" He asked her. "You'd never use your altered-perception mojo on muggins, would ya?"

"Muggins?" She asked with a laugh.

"Me. You wouldn't ever do that to fool me?"

She tilted her head and leaned forward. "Bowie, it doesn't work on you, you know that. Your own ability cancels it out."

He didn't look like he believed her. "So what're you going to do now, sweet Barbarella? You can't walk around looking like yourself. I think sweet Billy, not to mention the LA press, would have a bit of a shock!"

Penny shrugged her shoulders. "You think this is how I look naturally?"

Bowie frowned. "But you just said-"

"I'm kidding," Penny laughed, a hard-edged, nasty sound. "But let's not forget that Billy is dead now." She nodded towards the huge double doors, through which the young man in the red lab coat had left earlier. "All that remains is Doctor Horrible, a mad scientist with emphasis on the mad. I get the feeling that a few appearances from Penny's ghost will be put down to the product of his deranged imagination."

"That's too dangerous," Bowie protested.

"Don't question me!" She roared, standing up to her full height, her image flickering again to be replaced by the terrifying, wild-eyed Bad Horse.

Bowie didn't cower. This wasn't the first temper tantrum he'd witnessed and it wouldn't be the last. But he trusted Penny. She was a good leader and she got things done. No one dared challenge the authority of Bad Horse.

She was a smart girl.

"I'm not questioning you," he said calmly. "I just think that you might be getting too attached. You do this every time. Remember the whole thing with Leika?"

The horse snuffled and reverted back to Penny-form. She sat down again and clasped her hands in front of her. "Can I help it if I get caught up in my work?"

Bowie laughed indulgently. "Yes, but that skinny geek?"

Penny raised an eyebrow. "He wasn't the only target in this operation. You know that."

"So what did you get from Captain Hammer? Aside from groin strain?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "How about the complete schematics to the Guild HQ, The Ham Castle or whatever the hell he calls it, plus dates and times of Guild meetings?"

Bowie's jaw dropped. "Wow. That's really impressive." Not for nothing she ruled the ELE with an iron fist.

"Next weekend, we hit them hard. Knock out all the heroes."

Bowie nodded. This was the reason they all signed up, after all. "And then?"

"And then…" Penny said, settling back in her chair. "Then the city belongs to me."

There was something in her smile that chilled him. Something that told him there was no way she was going to share the power.

When it came to it, they were putting the power in different hooves. And the streets would run red with blood.


End file.
